


For a Friend

by Dimity Blue (Arnie)



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, Episode: s02e20 In Extremis, Gen, Missing Scene, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25973131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arnie/pseuds/Dimity%20Blue
Summary: Lionel's friends have always been there for him.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	For a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for anything up to and including season 2 episode 20, In Extremis.

Lionel knew it was wrong, even as he was pulling out a pocket handkerchief and using it to keep his fingerprints off the weapon.

 _For a friend._ Yeah, that was the problem. Jimmy had been there for Lionel at the lowest point of his life. If it hadn't been for Jimmy, Lionel would still be in a bar somewhere trying to pickle his liver with alcohol after his old lady served him the divorce papers. So, when Jimmy asked, there was no way Lionel could turn him down.

Fixing a crime scene so Louis wouldn't get jailed for shooting some scummy dealer was one thing. It wasn't until a good few months later that Lionel realised what Jimmy and Louis were really up to. It was a lucrative gig, Lionel had to admit that, and easily done too. Who was going to care about drug dealers being robbed and killed off? But Lionel wanted no part of it. He still thought of himself as a good cop - right up until this white guy with dreads came barrelling out of a closet and Lionel gave him a double tap to the heart.

Jimmy knew Lionel couldn't back out then, and there was a bitter taste at the back of Lionel's throat knowing his old pal Jimmy had seen this day coming, had known there'd be a day when Lionel had to start thinking of himself as a dirty cop. It was a lot to take in, and it wasn't until later that Lionel realised Jimmy had slipped a couple of large into his chest pocket.

It was tainted money and surprisingly difficult to spend. Lionel could have spent it all on Lee but he didn't want anything like that touching his boy. In the end, Lionel used it for groceries over the next six months and spent the money he saved on taking Lee out and giving him the best time that he could. He was no longer a good cop but at least he could be a good dad.

By the time those six months were up, Lionel had gotten used to being on the take. It didn't sit that easy with him, but he didn't have a choice. Jimmy and Louis were just the tip of the iceberg though. By the time Lionel found out about HR, he was in too deep to ever get out.

At least, so he figured. Then, in 2012, he was driving to Oyster Bay to kill and bury some guy in a suit who went snooping after the wrong people only to find said busybody had the luck of the devil and was practically indestructible to boot. The guy smoke bombed Lionel's car then dragged him from the wreckage. Lionel still can't figure out how Reese managed it. One minute he was handcuffed in the back of Lionel's car, the next, Lionel was face first in the dirt with his back hurting like hell from where his vest stopped two bullets from his own gun.

Reese, who ought to have been seeing stars from the car crash and where Jimmy knocked him on the head, walked away as calm as you please.

Aside from Lionel's back, the bit that hurt the worst was this weirdo guy reading him like a deck of cards. _Loyal._ Jimmy would have bust his gut laughing at that, but it was true. Lionel had done all this because of Jimmy, because he was Jimmy's friend, even though Jimmy wasn't actually Lionel's friend, not any more.

And then Reese had to go kill Jimmy and leave his body in the trunk of Lionel's car for Lionel to deal with.

Lionel wasn't one to admit it, but he'd sobbed while burying Jimmy. Whether he was crying for Jimmy, or himself, their friendship, or what the hell had happened to bring them to Lionel burying Jimmy in the cold, hard dirt that wouldn't even bear a marker with his name, Lionel didn't know, but he sobbed like a child over it.

He didn't sob at all while burying Davidson but the son of a bitch had been about to kill him before the big guy pulled off one of his last minute saves and shot Davidson instead.

Which brought Lionel to now, sitting in the back of an IAB detective's car while said detective waited for Jimmy's body to be dug up.

After all the dirty things Lionel had done, it was the height of irony he was going to be jailed for killing Jimmy when that was one of the few things he was innocent of. But, like he'd told Carter, Lionel knew he deserved this. Not for Jimmy, or Davidson, but for a dozen or more murders, a hundred or more faked testimonies, and so many instances of looking the other way that even God had lost track.

And then Jimmy's grave turned up empty.

Lionel hid his astonishment and relief behind a facade and he high-tailed it back to the precinct where he could think in peace. To his surprise, Carter was there with a peace offering - a request that he look over Beecher's file and see if he could spot anything Carter had missed.

Lionel accepted, and watched Carter leave for the day with Bear at her heels. Bear, who would have made an excellent cadaver dog and who still had mud on his paws.

It seemed like Lionel's real friends hadn't left him to twist in the wind after all.

Putting down the file, Lionel busied himself with something in his desk drawer so he could keep his face down and out of sight for a few minutes.

Carter - the best and straightest cop Lionel had ever worked with - had put herself on the line to protect him. He wasn't worth the mud on Bear's paws, and Carter had stepped up to save his ass. Lionel sat up and took a few deep breaths. If Carter saw something in him worth saving, then it was on Lionel to do his best to live up to it.

Maybe one day he could make her proud.


End file.
